jack mcdoer's best of 2006

drum roll, please ...

top 10 records of 2006

1 - m. ward - post-war - strangely familiar, folksy singalongs. easily the best thing i heard all year.

2 - yo la tengo - i am not afraid of you and i will beat your ass - musically, it's all over the place, and that's a good thing. their best since i can hear the heart beating as one. and the best album title of the year to boot.

3 - tv on the radio - return to cookie mountain - the most challenging record of the year. i bought it last week and it's already up to 3. think what it could have done had i bought it last month.

4 - sparklehorse - dreamt for light years in the belly of a mountain - the comeback record of the year. 5 years is way too long.

5 - gob iron - death songs for the living - jay farrar's quietly on a roll. the best folk record of the year.

6 - the hold steady - boys and girls in america - i have to admit it's the best rock n' roll record of the year. it beats lucero's rebels, rogues & sworn brothers and the dram's jubilee dive hands down.

7 - hank iii - straight to hell - kicks my ass every time i listen to it. the best (anti-) country record of the year.

8 - robert pollard - from a compound eye - the best robert pollard record of the year! love is stronger than witchcraft!

9 - jenny lewis with the watson twins - rabbit fur coat - sorry neko, this is the best female indie country record of the year.

10 - the raconteurs - broken boy soliders - the best supergroup record of the year. doesn't it seem like jack white makes the top 10 every year?

top 10 songs of 2006

1 - m. ward - post-war - chinese translation

2 - the flaming lips - at war with the mystics - free radicals

3 - gob iron - death songs for the living - hard times

4 - tv on the radio - return to cookie mountain - wolf like me

5 - jenny lewis (featuring ben gibbard, conor oberst and m.ward) - rabbit fur coat - handle with care (traveling wilburys cover)

6 - paul westerberg - open season soundtrack - love you in the fall

7 - yo la tengo - i am not afraid of you ... - mr. tough

8 - hank iii - straight to hell - pills i took

9 - robert pollard - ... compound eye - dancing girls & dancing men

10 - grant lee phillips - nineteeneighties - age of consent (new order cover)

top 5 movies of 2006

1 - borat: cultural learnings of america for make benefit of glorious nation of kazahkstan

2 - casino royale

3 - the departed

4 - little miss sunshine

5 - rocky balboa (i haven't seen it yet, but it's gotta be in the top 5)

top 5 tv shows of 2006

1 - the office

2 - heroes

3 - big love

4 - entourage

5 - how i met your mother